Despite the lessons of WW I, Great Britain and the corridors of power within the Admiralty paid scant attention to the real danger posed by Germany in respect to its submarine building programme. Much the same could be claimed in respect to the surface fleet being rushed through by Germany in the build-up to WW II, however, it was always the U-Boat threat that presented the greatest danger, a point driven home relentlessly by Winston Churchill.

At the outbreak of hostilities, Britain had about 57 serviceable submarines including 12 used for training purposes and many of this number dated from the 1914-1918 war and were effectively obsolete. Consequently an emergency submarine building programme had to be implemented shortly after Winston Churchill came to power, resulting in around a total of 168 submarines being built by each and every shipyard capable of this class of work, working flat out.

Some 78 of these were subsequently lost, many under unknown circumstances, such as HMS VANDAL, a U-Class Coastal Submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong of Barrow, a prolific builder of all forms of naval vessels and one of the largest producers of submarines. HMS VANDAL disappeared during testing trials off the Island of Arran in February 1943, only a few days after her commissioning and hand-over to the Royal Navy.

Carrying a new crew totalling 37 men, including her Commanding Officer, HMS VANDAL was inexplicably lost in the Kilbrannan Sound where the depth was of the order of 70-80 metres, well within the capacity of her pressure hull. The location of her wreck remained unknown for over fifty years until discovered in the summer of 1994. Lying deep in the Kilbrannan Sound, HMS VANDAL was to become a permanent tomb to those who sailed her out of Lochranza in the early morning of 24 February 1943. These were young men, the average age of crewmembers was only 24 years, and all but two were Englishmen, destined to die a horrific death in Scottish waters far from home.

The lonely and high-risk life of the submariner can not be overstated. Yet there was no shortage of recruitment candidates for this dangerous arm of the Royal Navy. Although Britain’s submarine effort was at a totally different level than that of her enemy, Germany, and based on a very different strategy, nevertheless its achievements were quite remarkable. A true comparison cannot be practicably made but, for indicative purposes, British submarines accounted for 134 enemy surface warships, 34 enemy submarines, 493 enemy merchantmen and, for every British submarine lost, almost 8 German ships were destroyed, whereas one German U-Boat was lost for every 4 British ships destroyed.

The precise number of non-combatant losses of British submarines will never be known, i.e. those lost in mysterious circumstances unrelated to a specific enemy action. HMS VANDAL is such a case. I is more than likely that the mystery will remain unsolved and that this unfortunate boat and the 37 young men who perished within her confines will be afforded the dignity of her official classification - a war grave.

THE LOSS OF HMS VANDAL

HMS VANDAL was a Class U-Group II Coastal Submarine, Pennant No. 64, built by the world-famous naval vessel Builder, Vickers-Armstrongs of Barrow in Furness. With a displacement of approximately 545 tons, her principal dimensions were 204 feet in length, 10 feet in diameter, and under normal trimming she would draw around 12’ 6” of water.

HMS VANDAL was laid down by Vickers-Armstrongs on 17 March 1942, launched on 23 November 1942, and completed / handed over on 20 February 1943.

On that day, 20 February 1943, HMS VANDAL sailed out of Barrow Island for trials and passage to Holy Loch where she was planned to join the 3rd Flotilla based there. She arrived at Holy Loch later on the same day and was scheduled to carry out conventional test manoeuvres in the Kilbrannan Sound on 22nd and 23rd February, culminating in deep diving tests on 24 February in the Upper Inchmarnock North designated deep-water area. During these ‘shakedown’ tests, and given that the tests were to be carried out under wartime conditions, communications by wireless telegraphy were neither obligatory nor encouraged. The final deep dive tests scheduled for the 24th February would proceed only providing the Commanding Officer was satisfied with the water-tightness of the boat and the training standard of the boat’s complement, which would be determined during the two day exercises in the Kilbrannan Sound on 22nd and 23rd February.

It was expected that HMS VANDAL would return to her base in the Holy Loch at about 19:00 hours on the evening of the 24th February. In the event, she was never seen again and despite searches being implemented her fate and location remained unknown. The last (known) sighting of the boat had been on the morning of the 24th February when she left Lochranza. After that, there was no trace or clue to what became of the boat, and this remained the position for the next 51 years.

In June 1994, the wreck of HMS VANDAL was discovered lying in about 69 metres depth in the Kilbrannan Sound (37 fathoms / 224 feet) in position 55 degrees 43.8 minutes North, 5 degrees 22.4 minutes West. This places the wreck approximately midway between Lochranza and Claonaig and almost in line with the navigational track of the small vehicular ferry, which crosses between these two points.

The cause of her loss, however, remains a mystery to date. Underwater photography has shown no obvious reason for her loss, e.g. open to the sea, collision or other damage, etc. It is assumed therefore that all of her crew remain on board the boat and that she is effectively a war grave.

The records do not show whether there were representatives of her Builders on board at the time of her loss. It would, however, be unusual if this was not the case. Her Royal Navy on-board crew at the time of her loss consisted of her Commanding Officer, Lt. John S. Bridger and his Officers and Men as detailed on the attached sheet.

Any speculation as to the cause of the loss is just that – speculation. The only manner in which the cause of loss could be possibly identified after this time lapse would be a full recovery and painstaking survey of the boat to search for clues.

Angus - thanks for another interesting article. I believe the Barrow built boats carried out trial dives in Barrow Docks before hand over to the RN and may well have had at least one proving trip into the Irish Sea before passage to the Clyde, so I do not think any Vickers staff would have been on board at the time of her loss.

Thanks, Brian, I believe you are correct in this assumption. Incidentally I cannot now recall where I have noted it, but some years ago I read a new report that identified a fault (human error based) that could cause the boat to flood quickly and the report was in little doubt that this is what caused the loss of 'Vandal'. Inspection of the outer hatch supported the views expressed. If I come across the details and the source I will of course add it at a later date.

Additionally, i hope Angus will not mind after having made this remarkable information available to us, that should you want more details on her discovery by those responsible, please proceed to.www.deepimage.co.uk
where the link to HMS Vandal is clear to see.
It will i hope nicely complement his story of this tragic episode.
Thanks. E28

Excellent and detailed composition of this tragic story, thanks for finding and placing it here - I should have gone back when it came out and added it in for better completeness. Well done, E28, first class.

Vandal was ordered from Vickers, Barrow 12-7-1941 with 3 sister boats, Upstart, Varne and Vox. A further 8 were awarded to Vickers the same day, but were built on the other side, at their Tyne yard.
Yard no 837 and Admiralty job no J3806. Ordered as P.64, she was renamed Vandal, pendant P.64.
Vickers, using both yards, built every U and V class boat, except 2 from Chatham dockyard, Umpire and Una.

Hi all,
My Uncle was Abraham Bettany one of the crew on HMS Vandal. At the same time, my dad, Des Bettany, became a POW of the Japanese. He was an industrial chemist in artificial silk factory but told me to keep sane and alive he just had to paint, mostly cartoons. When he died we found over 300 paintings he has kept from this time in his cupboard. We have now put them all www.changipowart.com for the world to see, please share with friends.
Imagine his parents, both boys un accounted for!!!
Another funny thing, after the war dad trained at Leeds School of Art and taught tertiary art for the rest of his life. He was appointed as art teacher in South Shields, where I was born, not far from where the HMS Vandal was built. It's a strange world.
We immigrated with dad & mum to Australia where we still live in 1958.
You can contact me through the web page www.changipowart.com
Cheers,
Keith

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